Sunday, December 30, 2007

Well to keep me really busy these past months, I've been sewing up a storm for my local quilt shop. Below is a wallhanging designed by Amy Bradley. It's called Seasoned Quilter and she's a tall gal. Her hands are sewn on top of the wallhanging and the fingers cover an "eye" of a hook and eye set. Then you make these smaller 11x13 inch banners to hang on her so it looks like she's holding them. I had a lot of fun working with this one because I really got to dig in my scrap bags for her. The quilt shop gave me the background, border and backing. All of the "gal" is from my scraps. (Remember, click on the picture to enlarge for detail). I need to take a picture of her holding one or two of these "banners". She's already at the quilt shop, but when they put her on display, I'll take a pic for here. Sorry folks.

Here is the first one (not quilted yet). The "welcome" banner comes with the pattern above. They're a complete set. The other months/holidays you buy separately. Again, these are all done totally with my scraps. It takes a half yard for the background, backing and binding.

So I finished the "woman" and the welcome banner in November or early December and then decided I'd better get Santa done for display at the quilt shop during December to help them sell patterns. I am not a Santa person, but I loved doing him. His beard is white batting and I bling'd his eyes blue!

Then, next comes Valentine's Day. This one below looks totally different from the one on the pattern. But that one didn't have ANY red on it and when I think Valentine's Day, I think red! So...I made it red. (Think I have control issues???) :)

And last for now is Easter's banner. These two bunnies are really cute and I bling'd their eyes, too! My girlfriend took one look at their smiles and had to have one. So I told her to go buy me 1/2 yard of that green background and I'd make her one exactly like this one. Got it done in one evening! She will love it. She's just going to put it on the wall without the woman appearing to hold it.

So, this is what's been keeping me busy up to and through the holidays. That and other quilts I'm making for a major quilt fabric manufacturer.

Next up will be St. Patrick's Day, then Halloween and Thanksgiving. I've still got Fourth of July to do, but I think the pattern is ugly and so will use the pattern, but totally change the colors like I did with Valentine's Day.

Saturday, December 22, 2007

Wow, it's been "forever" since I blogged last. I have been Busy with a capital B!

Below is a weird shot of my new Singer 185J. Remember in my last post, I said that this machine was built the same year as our house (1954)? Well, below is a shot of my machine up against my bathroom tub. What do you think? A popular color in 1954, huh?

And here below is a shot of my BOM (block of the month) civil war quilt all pieced. The more clever of you out there will note that there are 16 blocks in this BOM whereas there should only be 12, right? There were four optional blocks and I decided to sew them. I really like it and the quilt shop will have it on display. I think they're going to put it on their website, too. Cool, no? Each of these blocks has a name. Reading from left to right, first row: Palmetto Tree, Ohio Cluster, Corn and Beans, Birds in Air. Second row: Jacob's Ladder, T Crossing, Underground Railroad, Yankee Puzzle. Third row: Roses and Plumes, Friendship Star, Diamond 5, Lincoln's Platform. Fourth row: Lost Ship, Montgomery, Raylene's Fence, Union Square. (Ta-Da).

Next shot is Gadget. She's spending her holidays the way I wish I could spend mine. She just loves newspaper and loves to be under it. She was actually snoozing peacefully until I snapped this shot of her.

And lastly, because "we" didn't decorate this year for Christmas (yes, not even my nativity scene), I decided to bake cookies. No big deal really, except the only cookies I ever make are chocolate chip. But I wanted something I haven't baked in a while....Molasses Crinkles. Here they are below...yum! Hope DH likes them. But in case he doesn't....they're all mine!! :)

Here's wishing each and every one of you a very Merry Christmas!! Stay safe and go to church this weekend!!

Wednesday, December 5, 2007

Here is my newest baby. Yeah, like I needed another machine. But here she is in an "after" (cleaning) picture. She's minus her plastic base and cover because of poor packing. It broke during shipment. We're going to be refunded our money on the item plus shipping. So, this item is free. But to be honest, I'd rather be out the money and have the base/case intact.

I spent last night cleaning her up. Cute, huh?

Below are the broken pieces and base. Drat. Makes me sad/mad. Replacements are NOT easy to find, if at all.

Here's another pic below of a clean machine. She runs, but the needle tension assembly needs a going over. I can wind a bobbin and when I threaded the machine up, I could get the thread through the tension discs but not easily and the thread won't pull through them and the tension dial is on ZERO...so, that will take a little work on my part. But it's doable.

Got this on eBay for a sweet price. I already belong to a Yahoo Singer Featherweight group and last night I joined a Yahoo vintage Singer sewing machine group and was then able to download a $10 repair manual for free from them. They say this machine is a little workhorse. It's just like the Singer 99 model, but with an updated look/color. It was made in 1954.

Funny, but I'm going to be taking this machine into the bathroom. Our house was built in 1954 and it has a green tub that looks very similar to this machine. Hmmmm....I'll let you know! :)

I've already got some bobbins for it (class 66) and after fixing the tension assembly, she'll be ready to rock and roll. Oh yeah, the light bulb needs replacing.

The Lean Green Machine will be added to a well stocked herd. I also have a Bernina 150QE, a Simplicity sewing machine, two Featherweights (one is a centennial and I need to sell it...anyone?), a Simplicity serger and a Janome Coverpro 1000 machine. Oh yeah, DH has a Bernina 614 model which is about the same green color as this beauty.

Ok, enough already. There she is.

Have a great week, everyone!

Addendum: I have been inundated with emails/comments requesting a manual for this machine. Join the Yahoo group entitled "vintagesingers". Go to the file section and then click on "66-99-185 information". The manual is the first item in this directory. Do not leave me a comment here if your blog is set on "private". I promise I won't answer it.

Saturday, November 24, 2007

...And not necessarily in that order. Wow, I sure love these four day weekends. Need to have more of them. I've been getting a TON of sewing done.

On PatternReview there are a lot of women who have made the Ottobre 2-2006 t shirts. They've been raving about them, so I bought the magazine and started in. Now, mind you, I already have a TNT tshirt (Vogue 8151). In fact, I have two TNT tshirts (and New Look 6730), but I have minor problems with them both.

The Vogue has a bust dart (not always fun to put in a knit, but it's doable) and the New Look has a center back seam (which can be eliminated) for shaping. I love them both. But I would like to combine them and have no back seam and no bust dart. Sounds easy, but it isn't always. Besides, again, others have raved about this Ottobre top, so here is my first one below:

That fabric was $2/yd at StuffMart. The end of the bolt said "polyester" but it's positively a cotton interlock. Not the greatest of recovery, but very nice and I love the color. It's a pretty deep burgundy with black dots. Not bad for a $4 shirt. But as you can see on Annie, the front is a bit too baggy. I don't have a tummy (thank you, Lord) and so I don't need that fullness there.

The next top is a nice crinkle knit I got from fabric.com. At the same time, I bought a ribbing knit to make a top out of, but discovered the colors are a perfect match, so I used it to bind the neckline. I've never done this technique, so it was strange. I double folded the binding as if I were applying it in the flat and stitched it to the right side. Then I folded it all the way under and stitched in the ditch on the front. It gives it a bit of a rolled binding look. I'm happy with it. But again, as you can see the front is baggy. And I cut the pattern down on the side seams.

So, here's my question for you out there who are reading this and can offer advice: Can't I just lay my front piece on the fold and pivot it out at the bottom so that the bottom hem of the center front lies an inch or so beyond the fold? (Did that make sense?)

This pattern is almost identical to the Vogue and New Look fronts. I can't understand where that extra fabric is coming from. I can't simply take it in more on the side seams, can I? Can't I remove the extra from the center front? The width at the neckline and chest is perfect.

Also...I hate the sleeves on both the Vogue and NL. The shoulder cap is so severe I have to sew basting stitches to ease it on the garment. I hate that. The Ottobre did NOT require that and for that reason I loved that pattern. I just need to figure out the bulk in the front.

Also, on that awesome website are online classes to take. Now, I've been a member for almost 3 years and have NEVER signed up for a class and have been wanting to. So...last night I signed up for the "Build a Better TShirt" class. I got a discount because I'm a member and it starts January 7 (right before my bday). I'm excited about learning how to...obviously...make a better tshirt.

So, for the last picture, I used TNT Vogue 8151 with the dart. I bought this fabric from Gorgeous Things and have wanted to sew it up since I bought it but was afraid. I didn't know what pattern to use, etc. I'm not very stylish, so I wasn't going to make a tunic top. I finally decided to just make a nice shell for work.

As you can see, I haven't sewn the side seams yet. I want to make this a 3/4 sleeve, too, like the blue one above. (The white turtleneck in the picture on Annie is her body cover) Because I used the Vogue pattern, this one won't have any bulk at the front. It does have bust darts, but it's a nice knit and will be ok.

I have also been sewing for Cindy of the quilt shop. I'll show it to you tomorrow.

Oh yes, before I forget. Thanksgiving. I found a few hours out of my day Thursday to head to the kitchen and whip up a small turkey dinner. Small, because there's just two of us here and it was a Butterball rolled turkey chest (we don't use the "b" word) roast. Of course, with all the trimmings. Delicious.

Friday, November 16, 2007

During our "quilter's retreat" last weekend, I had the opportunity to buy some new fabric. I started out with 14 fat quarters of Moda's "Chez Moi" line. They are gorgeous chocolate browns and raspberry colors. At this point, I had all this great fabric, but what to do with it? Charisma reminded me of the Cappuccino quilt I made my son for his high school graduation. So, I supplemented this line of fabric with about 6 other quarter yard cuts. And then I began.

Below are 12 of the 15 large squares all done on my design wall.

And here are the two sets of 24 smaller blocks done on my design wall (total of 48). These are done but for adding a 1 inch border to each of the 48 blocks. I've been doing that the past few days. As of last night, I had five left to border.

And here's a picture of the blocks on my wall as laid out via the pattern guide. As I finish the smaller blocks, I put them on the wall where I want them. When I'm done, I'll stand back and see what needs to be rearranged. But otherwise, right now, I like the arrangment.

When I originally bought the fat quarters (and didn't have this pattern in mind), I knew I'd need some border fabric, so I bought a yard of the purple tone-on-tone and two yards of one of the nice raspberry prints. And this quilt doesn't call for borders. So....I'll see when I'm done. I may use the print for a border and the purple for binding.

Monday, November 12, 2007

Ok, here is more of my heart bargello still in my sewing room. Remember, I was going to show a few friends how to sew theirs, so I sewed about 3/4 of my quilt.

And here is another close up of my bargello with the sheep border on it. I collect sheep and selected this fabric as my border.

And at the sewing weekend we just had (Friday and Saturday), I was able to finish it. Below is a shot of it, but it's pinned up against another quilt that's hanging on the wall. So, all that blue, etc is not a part of my quilt.

I am so glad it's done. Charisma finished her heart bargello, but still has 7 borders to add to it. I only wanted two borders because mine is going to be a wallhanging and my walls aren't big enough for it if I were to add all the borders on. So, I finished at two borders.

Another gal, Patty, spent alot of our weekend sewing up her panels and then Saturday night she started in on the quilt. I believe she got about 5-6 strips done before we had to head for home.

We started sewing (or I did) at 9am on Friday morning and I didn't close up the shop until 1:30am Saturday. Then I was back down at 9am Saturday and we finished up at 9:30 pm. We all decided we'd leave the shop cleaner than when we found it, so two gals scrubbed the bathrooms and emptied the wastebaskets and I vaccumed the place. Patty washed down the tables, etc. All in all, we had a GREAT TIME. We ordered pizza Friday for dinner and mexican food Saturday night. In between we had a whole table with food on it.

I got 5 projects donem but then again, most of my heart bargello (which is why we were getting together) was done before I got there and I even started another quilt that I'll show you another time. Phew. A special "thank you" to Cindi for letting us have her classroom to party.

Friday, November 9, 2007

Wow, it's already the 9th of November and I haven't blogged this month at all! Guess I've just been too busy with sewing to actually sit down and talk about sewing.

As mentioned in my previous post, today is the day us gals have our sewing "party". We're meeting at my local quilt shop (thanks to the generous owner, Cindi) and we're going to sew for the next two days until we drop. The shop will be open it's regular hours, but we'll be in the back classroom sewing away. When the shop closes, we'll still be back there sewing. Psstt....I've got a key! Cindi said we can stay as late as we like. In fact, I'm going to get there this morning before they open and begin setting up. Others will arrive throughout the day. We've invited eight, but it looks like we're only going to be six. Which is fine. One gal will join us just for a few hours tonight and I'm looking forward to getting to know her. She's a friend of Charisma's.

So, the next time I post, you'll see pictures of our sewing. I'm going to be helping two of the gals sew up their heart bargellos and I actually am taking along about 5 projects. First is my heart bargello, but I doubt I'll get a chance to work on it. Then I've got some quilt blocks labeled and all ready to sew together. Next, there's a casserole carrier for Cindi. Then a pillow sham for a friend's daughter's quilt that was finished earlier this week. My friend, Sheila, is going to help me do this pillowsham "crumb" style. And Sheila and I have a huge quilt to do for the local Rotary club raffle. It's all two inch squares and two inch half square triangles. I have my half of the squares done and Sheila's going to be sewing up her "thangles" today. Each blocks consists of 64 squares and there's 20 blocks in the entire quilt. It's all scraps, too! Gotta love it. Again, I'll post pictures tomorrow.

Right now, I'm off and running to the quilt shop and it's only 7am! Talk at you later. Take care everyone.

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Well, I've been chugging along on the Heart Bargello quilt. We gals get together next weekend to sew these up. They want me to teach, so I've given myself a huge head start. Besides, I'll probably have something else to sew while there and that way I can get up from my machine often for interruptions from the "students".

Here is the first dozen or so rows on my design wall. The small wallhanging on the left is for my "new" kitchen. I'll show it to you later when it's quilted.

Remember, you can click on the picture to enlarge it.

Here is a very good closeup of the tiny squares that make this picture happen! It is so cool sewing it up and I am loving it. Already looking forward to when I can do another one. It's not a pain at all!

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

DH and I have embarked on a "project" that everyone should do who is a regular church goer to one church only. We have decided to "see" what everyone else is doing in their churches. So, off we go.

The first Sunday, which was about 2 months ago, we went to a local church called The Bread of Life. From the moment we got inside before service started to the time we walked out the door after service....was a total of 55 minutes! Couldn't believe it. We're used to starting Sunday School at 9:30 and stopping at 10:15 and then service starting at 10:30 and going til noon.

The hymnal they used was called "Heaven's Highway Hymnal" or something very similar. In essence, it was twangy country music hymns. I knew one of them would be "I'll Fly Away", which I personally like, but not that twangy. And, lo and behold, we sang it that morning. DH and I grinned and bore it!

The message the pastor delivered was short and to the point. I don't remember what point, but it was short. He didn't seem like he had the "calling" to be a pastor, but who are we to judge. He looked like someone who was at a church board meeting and lost the vote on who would be pastor. Ah well.

After that we tried an Assembly of God in that little town. We liked it alot. We liked it so much that we accidently went two weeks in a row. Do you have any idea what happens when you attend a new church two weeks in a row? They tried to give us the "permanent" Sunday School book and the Pastor wanted us to come to his house for ice cream and talk. Yikes!

Last Sunday, we went to the Baptist church in that small neighboring town. The Pastor that spoke had been their Pastor from 1962-1967. He was there for a visit and so preached. The message was all about "holding fast" to faith, to Jesus, to what we've been taught and to not let false teachers lead us astray.

He told this amazing story of the Snapping Turtle. Growing up as a young boy, his father used to catch snapping turtles and sell their shells. These turtles were huge. As large as a washtub. So, the Pastor explained that one day when he was small, his father "drug" home a huge snapping turtle and rolled it on it's back (to prevent escape). His father would then hold out a large pair of pliers so that the turtle would latch onto it with it's mouth. As the turtle was "holding fast" to the pliers, his father would stretch it's neck out really far and then "whack", cut off it's head! I've got to tell you, EVERYONE in that congregation looked at each other and grimmaced. It was gross! And then the Pastor continued as if it was nothing. He said that after that his father would hold up the pliers and the turtle's head was still attached to it! Picture it! The Pastor said that "we all need to hold fast like that turtle to the pliers". Then he continued to say that his father would then take a hammer and hit the turtle's head until he crushed the head enough to get the jaws off the pliers.

I kid you not.

We were all so grossed out by then.....

On the way home, I asked DH what he thought of the service. He replied, "I could have gone an entire lifetime without hearing the Snapping Turtle story".

Sunday, October 28, 2007

Next up on the quilting scene is a quilt called Melinda's Heart. It's more commonly called "Heart Bargello". I looked up the word bargello...."to hand stitch in a zig zag pattern". That was not the definition I would have given a bargello. So, it shows you I'm no Noah Webster.

I wanted a wallhanging to put on my "new" living room walls which were recently painted brown. I also wanted to "shop my stash". So, after having Cindy Rang (Fabric Patch owner) help me (Thanks Cindy!), I present to you these fabrics below and the pattern. Cindy bundled them all up for me in a nice presentation package, even though 9 of the 16 fabrics are mine!

Below, here they are all laid out and numbered. The numbering on this quilt is essential to success. The lightest are the creams which slowly turn green which slowly turns dark green, which slowly turns brown till they end up light brown again.

Picking the colors for this quilt is really challenging. Hence, Cindy's help was needed.

Ok, I've followed the instructions "to the letter" and cut my strips. Here they all are on my sewing machine extension bed.

They look so nice, all in order and what not. I can't resist constantly looking at them.

So, below I've sewed my "panels". The largest set is colors 1-16 (all of them). They're on the bottom left. On the top are the darks....numbered 7-13-8. IOW, strips numbered 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8. In that order. And the last panel not shown is 13-6-6.

Ok, now the story. A group of us gals are getting together next weekend to sew. We've selected a secret location and there are eight of us. Four of us want to do this quilt. They've bought their kits (sold at the Fabric Patch) and are ready to go. They want MOI to teach them. Yeah, right I said. So I decided to get a head start because I don't want to get to our sewing "retreat" and learn myself AS I'm teaching them.

So, I sewed my panels which was easy enough. Then I started putting the strips all together to make the quilt. On my next post, I'll show you the strips and how they come together to make this heart bargello. The other gals won't mind that I've gotten this far. This quilt looks complicated and I'm sure they're just glad they can *gulp* rely on me to show them how to do it. And I needed a head start so that I can figure it out. And I've discovered it's not difficult at all.

So that's what's been going on around here. DH just left to run a few errands and asked me "what are you going to do while I'm gone?" I said "I don't know...." YEAH RIGHT! I'm off to my sewing studio.

Saturday, October 27, 2007

Am I the only one here who recognizes that Irving Berlin song? I hope not and if I'm not alone, shout out to me about it.

Well, I've gone and done it. I "upgraded" (the proper techy talk) to a new digital camera and as you can see, it's B L U E !

It's officially called the Panasonic Lumix DMC FX10 digital camera. It's 6 mp. Not alot anymore, but twice as much as I was using. It's smaller and most importantly, is FASTER. My Fugifilm A330 was/is great, but it takes forever to start up. There were times when I'd miss a shot because I was still waiting for the green light!! ARRGGGHHHH. So, problem solved.

Sorry for the flash in this one. And those scratches aren't on the LCD screen as they appear. I put a protective cover over the screen by buying some screen protectors that are actually made for some sort of video game thingy. StuffMart...$6.88. Cheap insurance, huh?

So, from now on, you may notice a difference in the shots I take. Then again....

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Ok, this is what my local quilt shop has me sewing this week. They gave me this book called Fast Fun & Easy Creative Fabric Clocks and told me to get anything out of the shop that I needed to complete the clock. With the book, they gave me the clock mechanism to make it work.

I went through the book several times trying to decide which clock to make. I couldn't. I always have problems because most of the clocks in the book were done freeform. IOW, the clockmaker designed the shape of the clock on her own. I prefer a pattern. I'm not good at freeform.

But I finally decided on a dimensional circle clock because it was easy. And I was tired of having this project on my "to do" list. The quilt shop is doing a class on these clocks and the owner has one unassembled for demonstrative use. She wanted me to make one so that she could use it as the "ta da" clock. Well, it's not much of a Ta Da clock, but I guess it will do.

Overall, it was very easy to do. I used a compass and drew the circles on the Fast 2 Fuse and then cut out the circles. The largest circle needs backing fabric. I just grabbed some ivory tone-on-tone and used that. For the purples, I used my scraps. I took a marker from my Stampin Up supplies and ran it around on the edges to give it some more purple color. I also used varigated purple thread to quilt each circle individually. Then I stuck them all together and attached the clock mechanism. I also put the 12, 3, 6 & 9 numbers (they glue on) on the face. I put a battery in it and TA DA...it works!

Friday, October 12, 2007

I've been working on TONS of sewing projects. So, I thought it was about time to show you some of them. Below is a Christmas apron and potholders on a panel. They're from Debbie Mumm. The panel consists of the apron front, two potholder fronts and 5 strips (2 of one fabric, 3 of another) for apron ties and potholder bindings. But I wasn't aware that two of the strips would be for potholder bindings, so I used them for the back of the apron ties.

You see, my quilt shop wanted me to make this reversible instead of just turning back the sides and stitching them down. So they picked out this cute red/green plaid. It was very easy. I first cut out the apron from the panel, making sure to leave 1/4" seam allowances. Then I laid the apron right side down on top of the plaid right side up. Then I cut out the plaid and took it to my machine and stitched all the way around it leaving an opening on the bottom of the apron. I figured when it came time to close the opening, no one would notice it because it's at the bottom.

Then I had to open up the stitching to allow for the ties on each side and the neck strap. I measured the neck strap from an apron I had already done and cut this one the same length. Then I fit them inside the seams and closed over it again. Make sense?

Here are the potholders. As stated, I didn't realize that two of the strips were for binding, so I cut the plaid on the bias and used it for binding. And, of course, plaid on the back. I put regular cotton quilt batting and insul-bright on the inside of the potholders. And finished it off with a loop for hanging.

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

Well, the long awaited chairs have arrived! We've been waiting for our finishing touches to arrive since I've redone the living room with new carpet and paint.

Below, Emily has totally made herself to home on one. We haven't even had time to remove the tags!!!And here is Gadget (in the chair) and Gizmo checking them out. New smells. Gizmo says "Well Gadget, are they going to be comfy?" I think Gadget is saying "I don't know about comfy, but they smell like they were made by a German Shepherd!"

And now all we need is an interior decorator. I've got the carpet I love, the walls painted the way I like it and new chairs. Now for some wall hangings and other misc. trappings that decorators are known for. But alas, that will have to wait until....hmm...I don't know when. I have no taste in decorating and DH probably would not be thrilled to have a decorator in the house. So...I'll just have to do it myself. I have in mind to do a smaller bargello style quilt for the wall.

Wednesday, October 3, 2007

Well, as you can see from these photos, I've not quite burned myself out on sewing purses (this link takes you to August entries where I did a three part series on sewing purses). I bought this really nice quilters cotton from a quilt shop in Odessa, WA. I hadn't seen this line of fabric at my local quilt shop, so I scarfed up several fat quarters.

My intent on making these two purses was to give one to Charisma and to sell the other. I had made her a bright pink purse and decided she needed a "winter" purse. It also gives her a chance to *ahem* wash the first one I gave her. I allowed Charisma to have her pick yesterday and she chose...drum roll please...the one on the left in the shot below.

And here I thought all along that she would chose this one below. Oh well.

They are fun to sew and hardly take any time. I can get two done in a couple of evenings.

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Ok, this is the third and last installment of the Sewing Assistants for me. Remember, number one was Emily, number two was Gizmo and now we have Gadget, aka The Brat Cat!

And below; here she is in all her innocent glory! This is the day she arrived at our house, December 23, 2006. A co-worker was housesitting for a couple whose cat had just had kittens and the couple wanted my co-worker to see if she could find homes for the kittens before they returned home. I immediately said YES!

Of course, as with almost all of the cats in our house, this one likes DH, too. Pathetic!Below was her favorite spot to sleep. She did this for several months until she grew too large.

Then she moved in with Gizmo. Needless to say, Gizmo is less than thrilled with the arrangment. Gadget is none too happy about it either, but she is the Brat Cat, after all.

Finally, she found her own digs. Sheesh...cats. All they want to do all day long is sleep. I'd rather be sewing! So much for sewing assistants, huh?

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

She looks pretty bored, huh?DH had some items in a storage building belonging to a friend. These cats made themselves to home there and so DH (out of the kindness of his heart) took pity on them and fed them, etc. When "mother" had kittens, there were three. A black one, a white one and a gray one. The gray one was the runt and believe me, this one was really runty. So, when he gave up the storage building, he found homes for each cat and brought home this runt...er cat.

In the picture below, she looks pretty large, but honest, she's 3/4 size.

Because DH took such good care of her when she was a kitten, she totally dotes on him constantly. If I was the jealous type, I'd be jealous of this cat. Sheesh....DH walks in the door and she is right there for him. When he goes to the "loo" (it's an English word, google it) she's pawing at the door and making a fuss! When we sleep at night, the door is closed and each morning she tries getting in before the alarm goes off. We have to say "no" and she'll go away. But when I surface out of that door in the morning, she's always in the hallway waiting to get in so she can hop up on the bed and snuggle up with him. Sheesh! It's nearly pathetic.

So, as with the shot below...she has to be near him.

Now the truth. She's totally a scaredy cat! This is how she looks most days when sewing assistant #3 is chasing her. She's usually looking for a place to hide.

And as far as helping me with my sewing...forget it. She ventures into my sewing studio only to get attention. She gets it, too. :)

Thursday, September 20, 2007

Since there isn't a whole lot to talk about, I thought I'd introduce you to my sewing assistants.

Below is Emily. She is our oldest. DH and I got her in 1999, just after purchasing our first house. DH answered an ad in the paper for kittens. When he showed up at the house, there were literally (litter-aly, sorry!) KITTENS everywhere. You see, there were three mother cats and each had a couple of litters. All the kittens were all mixed in and they were all nursing off of the first mother they came in contact with. And all the cats had the run of the house. The people were moving and...well you know the rest.

DH put small Emily in his pickup and brought her home. Problem? He didn't put her in a box. He just put her in the pickup. When he got home, he couldn't find her. I found her...she was under the seat. It's just that we had to practically remove the seat to get at her to get her out. She was so frightened!

When we got her inside, we kept her in an extra bedroom for a couple of days and then allowed her out to see her new surroundings.

At about this time, the neighbors had a flame point Siamese (Duke, who I'll show you another time) who made himself to home AT OUR HOUSE! Which turned out perfectly, in the end.

Anyway, so there was Duke and Emily.

Emily loves the fireplace in the winter, so this is where you can usually get a good shot of her.

Emily loves DH's boots and will go over (even when he's wearing them) and use them as a scratching post!! Here she is laying in front of them after just scratching them.

And, hence the name of this post, here she is assisting me with my sewing...er...pressing. She has discovered that after my ironing, the board is warm and the fabric is soft.

So, there you have it. Emily...the oldest.

Oh, this past Spring, she sprained her ankle and the vet said it would take her a long time to heal up. Well, as of this posting, she is still limping, albeit, not too much.